If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Pakistan confirmed as Ireland's first Test opponents

IRELAND’s first Test match will be on home soil against Pakistan in May, following an agreement between the two sides reached during the International Cricket Council meeting in Auckland this week.

Ireland and Afghanistan were given Test status in June when they became the 11th and 12th Full Members of the ICC and Cricket Ireland has since been looking for the right opponents for an historic first match.

“We are excited to welcome Pakistan to Ireland for our inaugural Test match next year,” CEO Warren Deutrom said. “It has been our wish to make our Test debut in front of our own fans within 12 months of becoming a Test nation, and against a big team - so I’m delighted.”

Pakistan certainly fit the bill as a team who were top of the Test match rankings as recently as last year before slipping back after the retirement of captain Misbah-ul-Haq and senior batsman Younis Khan.

"There is a lot of work to do from now to ensure that it will be an occasion to remember but we, and I’m sure our players and fans, can’t wait to rise to it,” Deutrom added.

"We would like to thank the Pakistan Cricket Board most sincerely for agreeing to be our first opponent in Test cricket – the Pakistan team has been a regular visitor to our shores in recent years, and their agreement to be our opponent on this important occasion for Irish cricket is further evidence of their terrific support.”

Irish captain William Porterfield welcomed confirmation of the match saying: "It's fantastic news for Irish cricket. It's going to be a bit special and it's always great to be a part of history.

"There's a special affinity between ourselves and Pakistan going back to the 2007 World Cup and they've been regular tourists here over the past decade.

"Test cricket is the pinnacle of our sport and I know how much this game will mean to not only the players but all involved with Irish cricket. It'll be another step on what has been an incredible journey for our sport in a relatively short passage of time.

"It's sure to be an incredible and emotional experience for all involved. I know how much this will mean to all the players and just how much we all will forward to our dream of being Test cricketers realised. I'm certain there will be an incredible atmosphere from both sets of fans who will be keen to witness a piece of history."

The exact date in May and Irish venue for the five-day Test has yet to be confirmed, but a final decision on both will be announced in due course.

I have a bad feeling about this Test match. If Ireland makes a green wicket with overcast wet-tish conditions, Pakistan could look like a rabbit caught in the headlights. Wouldn't rule out an Ireland win if those are the conditions. Plus we've known to be gracious people. Handing wins to minnows when they need them.

I have a bad feeling about this Test match. If Ireland makes a green wicket with overcast wet-tish conditions, Pakistan could look like a rabbit caught in the headlights. Wouldn't rule out an Ireland win if those are the conditions. Plus we've known to be gracious people. Handing wins to minnows when they need them.

Luckily Ireland don't have the bowlers to take advantage of such conditions.

Will be a historic occasion if hopefully the weather stays clear. Cannot afford any complacency or thinking Ireland are just preparation for the England tour - we all saw what happened on a greentop in the 2007 WC.

Originally Posted by Syed1

Another opportunity for Mickey to lose to a minnow

A friendly reminder that your Pep Guardiola of cricket Waqar shelled an ODI to Zimbabwe in a match where we were 76-6 only two years ago.

Will be a historic occasion if hopefully the weather stays clear. Cannot afford any complacency or thinking Ireland are just preparation for the England tour - we all saw what happened on a greentop in the 2007 WC.

A friendly reminder that your Pep Guardiola of cricket Waqar shelled an ODI to Zimbabwe in a match where we were 76-6 only two years ago.

Didn't know we were paying Mickey a bucket ton of money to be as bad as Vicki

In six months' time Ireland will become the 11th nation to play Test cricket, a long-coveted prize that brings with it administrative and financial challenges not seen since rugby union turned professional.

On May 11 next year at around 11am, weather permitting of course, Pakistan will be on hand to welcome the format's first new arrival since Bangladesh were invited to the top table in November 2000.

It will be a cause for great celebration for fans and players on the island and the culmination of years of diligent work - with behind-the-scenes politicking and unimpeachable on-field progress playing an equal part over the years.

But before that happens, a Stakhanovite workload awaits those at the helm.

Warren Deutrom is the chief executive of Cricket Ireland and a major factor in the advancement of a cause which has gone from fanciful to optimistic to achievable and finally inevitable in a decade.

As well as leading the organisation, Deutrom is effectively HR manager, in-house lawyer and head of corporate affairs. He estimates performance director Richard Holdsworth's role overlaps with the work of five people at the England and Wales Cricket Board.

"We are going through a huge, huge process of transitioning from associates to full membership. It's going to be a finger in the air exercise to some extent... we have an extraordinary dearth of people," Deutrom told Press Association Sport.

"To satisfy all the requirements we would have next year - working on a proper interprovincial structure, more support for our women's teams and grassroots, coach development, investment in facilities, identifying and commercialising our fixtures for the next four to five years, hosting a Test match - we would need 14-15 million euros. We're likely to turn over around 8million and the exchange rate of Dollars to Euros means we're getting less from our ICC distribution.

"We might be facing a unique set of challenges," he said. "The only thing I am aware of on this scale in Ireland would be the transition from amateur to professional in rugby union.

"I suspect that was comparable to what we're doing but rugby was already ingrained in our national psyche, it was an established mainstream sport in the way cricket is only aspiring to be."

Also on the list of priorities is a new headquarters.

"We haven't got any more room...we've already knocked through into next door and you can't keep knocking holes in walls forever," he added.

Deutrom is also pragmatic enough to know cricket will not be knocking holes in the established structure of Irish sport anytime soon. Among team pursuits rugby, football and Gaelic sports are untouchable, with horse-racing and golf also boasting a large, devoted following.

The goal is to join them.

"What are the measure to become mainstream? I've talked about cultural ubiquity: our own tab on the news sites, on TV regularly, pundits on the radio," he said.

"There's not many sports that can attract 10,000 people to a game as we can and we're already the country's second biggest sport in terms of social media following. That could be damn lies and statistics but it seems a relatively solid measure, given we've never been certain of our fixture list before."

Many fans will be desperate to know when England will face their neighbours in Test cricket. It was once expected they would be the side to welcome the boys in green to life in whites, but Deutrom is applying light-touch diplomacy on that score.

"It would be crazy to put a public megaphone to their ear and say 'it's outrageous they're not playing us'," he said.

"We know their schedule is among the busiest in world cricket but there is a human side to everything and is there a natural kinship between England and Ireland? Yes. I think there is a real willingness to get it done but that doesn't lessen the challenge of a very busy calendar."

For now though, all eyes are on Pakistan in May.

"We have a mountain to climb, and there will be bumps in the road, but let's not lose sight of what has been achieved by Irish cricket."

I dont really know why but I've noticed a serious amount of bitterness towards the achievements of the Ireland team on this forum in the past two years or so.

I get from a Pakistani perspective the 2007 game will always carry emotion, but its a tad disappointing to see so much ill will towards a group of players who have been an immense credit to their country and the Associate game for a decade, only for people to gleefully jump in when the performances and form start to dwindle to the extent people seem to have forgotten just how far this team have come on a shoestring budget, with zero ICC support (until now) and a criminal lack of games until 2016.